Aeronautic equipment



Jan. 10, 1933.

W. RAHN AERONAUTIC EQUIPMENT Filed July 1'7. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan.10, 1933. w. RAHN 1,894,057

AERONAUTIC EQUIPMENT Filed July 17, 1929 A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fly. ,s

Patented Jan. 10, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM RAHN, OF NEWYORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 RAHN AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, A

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE AERONAUTIC EQUIPMENT Application filed July 1 7,

This invention relates to aeronautical apparatus and more particularlyto an improved type of flying machine which is especially adapted torise vertically, orto move or to travel horizontally without the use ofpropellers which are usually employed for either vertical or horizontalmovement.

It is anobject of my invention to provide an improved arrangementwhereby the flying machine may rise vertically or travel hcrizontally ordescend vertically to the ground and be operated in a simple manner toeffect either or both of these conditions.

A further object is to provide improved and novel means for varying theinclination of the plane while in motion and to provide improved andefficient wings for effecting the necessary motion of the piane.

Other objects and advant-ages will be seen from the followingdescription of the accompanying drawings, in which,

ig. 1 is a plan view,

F ig. 2 is a side elevation, F ig. 3 is a front view, Fig. 4 is anenlarged fragmentary sectional detail of the mechanism for operating thecombined propelling and lifting wings. F ig. 5 is a sectional view takenon line 5 5 of TEig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a plan View of one of the improved wings.

- Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are sectional views taken on their respective linesin Fig. 6, and

' Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of the gear mechanism for changing theinclination of the wings and the plane.

The illustrated specific embodiment of the invention comprises afuselage 1 having at the front a passenger cabin 2, while the motorcompartment 3 is disposed to the rear thereof. Thetail 4 comprisesspaced suitably braced side members 5 vand 6 carrying the usual rudder 7and elevators 8. Suitable landing gear 9 is provided and due to the factthat my improved arrangement of operating parts permits the plane torise or descend vertically the tail skid is not necessary.

The combined wing and propelling mechanism comprises a shaft 10 drivenby a suitable engine 11 through a chain and sprocket con- 1929. SerialNo. 3'?8,841.

nection 12. This shaft extends to the outerf most ends of the wingconstructions 13 and 14. As the wing constructions 13 and 14 areidentical, it will suffice to describe only one in detail.

A frame 15 is rigidly secured as at 16 to the shaft 10 as is likewisewith an outer arm 17 so that the member 15 and arm 17 rotate at alltimes with shaft 10. Supported at the outer ends and between the membersl5 and 17 are combined lifting and propelling wings 18 and 19.

In operation the wing 18 while travelling downwardly will be in ahorizontal position such as shown in F ig. 2 while the wing 19 will betravelling upwardly in a vertical position. As the arms 15 and 17rotate, suitable mechanism is provided for simultaneously rotating thewings 18 and 19 around their own axes, so that when the wing 18 reachesthe position of wing 19 as shown in Fig. 2, the wing 18 will be in avertical position at which time the wing 19 will now be in the positionVof wing 18. This cycle is then repeated and to effect the same there isprovided a bevel sun gear 20 normally non-rotatably held upon the innerend of sleeve 21 which is held against rotation by worm and worm gear 22and 23, the worm being supported on the framework of the fuselage l.Meshing with the sun gear 2O are gears 24 and 25 mounted respectively onshafts 26 and 27. The outer ends of these shafts carry bevel gears 28and 29, which in turn mesh with gears 30 and 31,

these latter gears being liXed to the shafts 32 and 33 which carry thewings 18 and 19.

It is seen that as shaft 10 rotates, the frame 15 rotates and causes thegears 24 and 25 to travel around the normally stationary sun gear, thusrotating the shafts 26 and 27 and in turn rotating the wings 18 and 19on their respective axes. It is thus possible to cause the wings 18 and19 to travel in the paths previously described, so that the upwardlymoving wing creates very little if any resistance, while the downwardlymoving wing causes a lifting force to be created sufricient to lift theplane.

The arms 15 and 17 or corresponding meinbers in the other wings are madepreferably of tubular metal which is tapered at the ends Y as shown inside elevation in Fig. 2, and this tubular construction is suitablycovered with fabric 34, or other suitable material.

The rear wing construction 35 is similar to that of the other wings,except that the shaft 36 is driven from the outside by a chain andsprocket connection 37, while the worm and worm gear construction 38 hasfor convenience been placed on the outside.

After the plane has ascended it may be propelled forwardly by adjustingthe worm gears 22 and 38 thereby rotating the sun gear. Upon suchadjustment of the worm gear the angular relation between the front andrear wings, 18 and 19 say, will be changed so that instead of the wing18 being horizontal for the particular position of the arm 17, shown inFig. 2, it will be in a horizontal position at some point above theposition shown in Fig. 2, thus causing the wing to assume a verticalposition on its backward movement prior to reaching its rearmostposition. Hence, the `wing will travel rearwardly for some predetermineddistance in a more or less vertical position and thus will impart ahorizontal component of force to the machine, thereby tending to propelthe machine forwardly. In addition, a forward pressure component will bereceived as the wing travels downwardly from its horizontal position.With this Vmode of operation applied to each of the sets of wings 13, 14and 35, the plane may be given a high degree of horizontal impetus, andat the same time be sustained in the air due to the downward movement ofthe wings when in their horizontal position somewhere around the axis ofthe driving shafts 10 or 36. The worm gears while herein shown asindependently operable by hand for instance, may be either independentlyor simultaneously actuated by power through suitable clutch and shaftyconnections to, forinstance, the engine 11. If desired, a furtherdegree of control may be had through use of the elevators 8 which mightbe operated through any suitable and usual type of control and also therudder 7 which provides the necessary means of steering the plane.

An improved feature of the wing construction resides in the provision ofconcave surfaces 40 and convex surfaces 41. The concave surfaces beingivided as at 42, Fig. 8 thereby causing the air to divide and flowoutwardly in opposite directions and with equal and opposite forceswhich will add further stability to the operation of the plane. Theconvex surfaces 41 instead of having a ridge 42 are provided with acentral depression 43, this also producing the same effect of creatingopposite flow of air and equal pressure forces as does ridge 42.

It is thus seen that by the use of the three sets of wings; two at theside and one at the center in the rear, a three point pressure supportis provided for the plane thereby imparting to it a high degree ofstability and also a simplicity of construction and operation ispresented which entirely eliminates the need of any propellers such asis usually used in helicopters.

Various changes may be made in the constructions without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as set forth in the claims.

I claim:

1. An aeroplane having a body and wings movably supported thereby, saidwings comprising an undersurface having a plurality of concave portionswith a ridge therebetween, whereby the air fiow over said wings is insubstantially equal and opposite directions. f

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in thatsaid ridge extends in a direction longitudinally of the aeroplane.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in thatmeans are provided for rotating said wings around axes disposedtransversely of the body.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in thatsaid ridge extends lengthwise of the body and means are provided forrotating said wings continuously in one direction around an axis diS-posed transversely of the body.

5. The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in thatsaid wings are convex on their upper surface.

6. An aeroplane comprising, in combination, a fuselage, and wingmechanism having a frame rotatably supported by said fuselage and a wingelement rotatably supported on said frame, said wing element beingprovidi ed onV one of its sides at one end with aconcave portion and onthe other side of its other end with another concave portion.

7. An aeroplane comprising, in combination, a fusela frame rotatab ysupported by said fuselage and a wing element rotatably supported onsaid frame, said wing element being provided on one of its sides atoneend with a concave portion and on the other side of its other end withanother concave portion, and means for rotating said wing frame and wingelement whereby the concave portions of the wing element alternatelyeffect a lifting action.

8. The combination set forth in claim 7 further characterized in thatthe wing frame is provided with two wing elements such as described inclaim-7, said win elements being disposed on each side of t e axis aboutwhich said wing frame rotates, and means whereby said wing elements arealternately brought into operative lifting position.

WM. RAHN.

e, wing mechanism having a 'l

